Walk This Way
by RunMoogles
Summary: DRABBLETS! Short, quick reads. Includes Alex, Zeus, Karen, Ragland, Dana and some very minor OCs. Very easy to read and review! *hint hint*
1. La Dispute

Disclaimer: I do not own Prototype or any of its properties. What is written here is purely for entertainment purposes only. Eric is property of my sister, _Herrlichkeit._

--Since I don't type like a mad demon, I suggest you read slow if you're listening to the music that I listened to. 3 Thanks loves.

RULES:

_1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like._

_2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle._

_3. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over._

_4. Do ten of these, then post them._

1. La Dispute, by Yann Tiersen

Violent. That was always the word that came to mind when he spied through the microscope, down onto the tiny, microscopic being. He wasn't even sure if he could call it a being, really. It wasn't a living thing. It was a virus, too small and simple to even be considered living quite like bacteria could. In fact, without a host, it had nothing but a snippet of directions telling it what its menial purpose was; find a host, reproduce, take over, consume.

Or so it seemed, from what he had observed. From what he knew and understood of all viruses, and of Blacklight DX-1118. Alex Mercer leaned back in his office chair and displaced his glasses as he rubbed his exhausted eyes. He'd drawn this strain from Redlight, formulating a cure, no, a weapon. What was the purpose, again? He couldn't remember, and honestly, he couldn't care less so long as he was in the clear and working on the only thing he knew how. Well, that, and of course his ridiculous salary that had better stay ridiculous so long as he worked on this project.

Blacklight, his creation. No, that wasn't correct. His discovery, actually. Whether dormant or a variation of Redlight, it was nothing but a copy, a replication, a hope of anything but what it really was. What would its effects be, exactly? He wondered. Tested on animals, on people even, what would happen to them? Many would consider such thoughts to be absolutely selfish and sociopathic, but the concern didn't alight in his mind for more than a second.

And that was the truth of it. He'd long since closed himself off from family and friends. He was alone, save for this tightly sealed, tightly locked, and steadily watched vial containing a deadly virus. He was alone, he knew, and he rather preferred it that way. In the past few months, even his relationship with his girlfriend, Karen Parker, had been failing because of this terrible reclusiveness which had become increasingly worse. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was his own life and his own work. Developing Blacklight into its full potential was all that really mattered. Who knew? Maybe he'd really discover the cure to cancer and all other ailments that plagued humans. What a figure he would be then! All the glory would be his, truly. A bitter laugh escaped his dry throat as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Indeed… that's what this was all about, wasn't it?

"Little red thing in a glass could get me that much, huh?" He said to no one in particular. "Already earned me a pretty penny I guess." He chuckled lightly, fakely, as he straightened and stared at the vial.

-song over-


	2. Dance With the Devil

2. Dance With the Devil, by Breaking Benjamin

He was a silhouette set against a backdrop of terror, screams, smoke rising and infection spreading. His name had once been Alex Mercer. That name, technically, that man, was dead. ZEUS stood, a handful of stories high over the throngs of the sick and dying. This had all been _his _fault. And it continued to remain so. Fists clenched, confusion spreading.

_Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right._

Alex Mercer had led everyone on Manhattan island to their deaths. Alex Mercer had endangered his sister and his girlfriend. He'd placed them in the hands of the infected and the illness. This was all _his _fault… right? ZEUS ground his teeth. Who was he, then? Who was _he _if he was to be just the thing that Alex Mercer had smashed into the pavement and fallen on? If Alex had been but a host, a cage, then who was ZEUS? Who was Blacklight DX-1118?

_A monster. A murderer. A terrorist._

Cold blue eyes cast out over the smoke filled streets. He could see through the haze. He could see the mess that spilled out over the asphalt. People turned on people as their minds were consumed with sheer violence and delirium wrought by the illness. He didn't cast one look back at the door that led to Dana's safe house. He already knew that she stood there, watching as her brother, whom she thought was her brother, as he leapt from the very edge of building. Shock and sheer concern twisted her features as she clutched the door. Everything, all of this, was so severely messed up beyond any real comprehension, she knew. She just wanted to believe, for even a moment, that he was truly still there. What she had read though… what she had learned from the documents he asked her to churn up, had all said otherwise. So who was this then, that had strode into her apartment, that trusted her, that didn't kill her?

-song over-


	3. Ghostflowers

3. Ghostflowers, by Otep

"Greene." He ground out through gritted teeth. A giggle came forth from the girl he'd addressed. Hips swaying, she strode, no, floated near. Her deceptively delicate wrist curled towards him to lay a hand across his chest. She was close, her plush lips parted, breaths of warm, infected air falling from her lungs and toward his face.

"Tell me… what have I done?" She asked, all the innocence of a child laying in the tone of her question. It were as though, knowing she were in trouble, she were addressing daddy with all the hopes that her bashful expression and large, fluttering eyes would get her out of trouble. ZEUS growled, low and deadly, and swept his human hand across her face with all the force he could muster. A loud slap snapped the unearthly silence momentarily. Elizabeth flew to the metal floor with a thud and a high pitched squeal that quickly morphed into a manic laugh. She stood, seemingly undisturbed by the ringing pain in her face and leapt at him, throwing him to the ground and pinning him beneath her.

"We are the thousand children of death." She squawked into his face. "I'll split you open and climb inside!" She laughed, her teeth pulled at his lower lip at her declaration. She was teasing him, tickling at him, prodding him like he were a test subject. He struggled against the manacles she created against his wrists. She laughed as he bucked beneath her, rage splayed across his face over his own helplessness. "Now be nice, son." She soothed, lifting one delicate hand to lay a forefinger against his lips and 'hush' him. It was her mistake, and his free hand flew to her face, pushing her off of him and slamming her head to the ground in his momentum.

-song over-


	4. Landslide

4. Landslide, by Stacey Kent

The sound of the helicopter was deafening, even with the ear mufflers in place. A thin slip of paper sat between her delicate, manicured fingers as the cycling machine took to the air. Moisture gathered in her eyes, dragging days old make-up down her cheeks as she stared at the picture. A boy and a girl. No, rather, a young man and a young woman holding one another. Both were smiling; both looked so lovely together.

This wasn't a break up. This was a disaster.

Karen wasn't entirely sure just what she was supposed to feel about the virus that now roamed Manhattan in the body of her ex-boyfriend. Boyfriend sounded so silly in her mind, she'd decided long ago. They'd been so close before he'd become consumed with working on Blacklight. They'd been close enough for fiancée to be the word of choice.

All that didn't matter now. Not now that Alex Mercer was dead.

Still. It all felt so wrong. Her betrayal felt wrong. Even though she'd witnessed herself the killer that he was, she felt that he was a part of something bigger. He was dissecting Gentek in just the same fashion that Alex had dissected the single celled virus in its protective Petri dish.

And… he'd never been particularly unkind to her. Stiff and awkward, certainly, but not unkind. Curt, sharp, and straight to the point, but not unkind. Not to her, she'd known. What she'd done hadn't been warranted. What she'd done had been an action taken in fear of what he _might _do to her, and not because of whatever he'd done already. He'd wanted a cure. He'd wanted a solution other than destruction. He didn't know how to get it himself, but he held all the hopes that she might.

She'd failed him. She was afraid that if she told him that she couldn't help him that he'd… Karen dropped her face into her hands with one dry and empty sob of despair. She didn't understand the situation. She only knew that she felt a strong and intense fear of him and didn't know how to safely get away.

Somewhere, deep within her, she knew that secretly she grasped the hope that he would survive the situation she'd put him into. She hoped that he got out and that he found a way to end all of this. She hoped that the virus knew _something _of forgiveness. _Something _of mercy. Especially if ever one day he found her. For now… she'd take her love; she'd take it down.

-song over-


	5. Walk This Way

5. Walk This Way, by Aerosmith

"Hey… that chick's lookin' at you." Eric slapped his companion's shoulder lightly, half a grin conquering his traitorous lips as he spied the spy. ZEUS turned, his infamous glare settling on Eric before he followed the other young man's line of sight. He didn't waste much time looking at the girl before he turned back towards Eric.

"Oh lovely. What would you say I do with it?"

"It?!" Eric turned toward ZEUS with a raucous laugh that clipped short with disbelief. "Dude, you sure miss out on a lot, don't you." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. When he received a glare in response, Eric shook his head and shuffled his boot across the pavement. "I'd say go tap it, 'cause it's got a look on it's face like it wants you." Eric said with a suggestive wink. ZEUS brought thumb and forefinger up to pinch the bridge of his nose, a gesture he'd somehow picked up from Ragland.

"I'm not even remotely interested." He stated. Eric had been in the middle of tossing back some water from his standard issued water bottle.

"Agh. Lame sauce." He muttered, crinkling his bottle. "You get looks and here I am the one in uniform. Really now." He shook his head dramatically, as though this were the most ridiculous observation he'd ever been forced to accept. "This just isn't right." Blacklight looked at the girl again, who smiled in return. She wasn't the least bit shy. That's what the continued occupation of this island seemed to have done to these people. After the nuke had been dropped and the infection began to settle down, people had become brazen. Did she even have any sense enough to know who he was? He was all over the news. Really… this was ridiculous.

"How do you know she's not looking at you?" The virus asked.

"She smiled at you, dude." Eric explained. Blacklight sighed and looked down at his feet, shaking his head.

"You are so simple minded."

"What the fuck makes you say that?!" Eric retorted, although everything about his expression made to say that he wasn't really insulted. "I'm not the single celled organism."

"I'm sure she's just desperate. If sex is what you want, you can go and get it."

"She wants you, dude."

"—and you started out as a single cell too. In fact, you started out as two _halves _of a single cell, bastard."

"Go talk to her."

"Don't tell me what to do. I'm not interested. I don't even reproduce the same way you ugly creatures do."

"You reproduce?!" Eric choked on his water. Again, the glare ensued in full force.

"Of course, you idiot. Otherwise I'd still be a single cell."

"Oh." Eric laughed, attempting to clear his lungs of the water he'd choked on. "I get it. Well, that's good. We don't really need little ZEUS' on the loose."

"You really are a moron, you know that? I don't even know why I'm enduring this." Alex groaned and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.

-song over-


	6. Ground Control to Major Tom

6. Major Tom (Space Oddity), by Shiny Toy Guns

The nuke had been diverted off of the island, and those who had been infected were forced to allow the disease to run its course. There had been a lull in the military's involvement. It was during this time that Zeus was able to enjoy a certain awkward peace.

Atop a sky scraper, the island laid out beneath him, he methodically drew air into his lungs. He held the breath there, closing his eyes for a moment. Focus delved inward, his mind placid like undisturbed water. Memories, voices; they were all blissfully silent. Tilting forward, ever so slowly, he felt gravity slowly take control. The red air far below him simmered and smoked, and he opened his eyes in the moment that paused him, poised perpendicular against the standing structure. Then a rush as he was forced to bring his feet out in front of him into a neck breaking run down the side of the building. Glass crinkled and shattered beneath his feet.

In, out. In, out. His breathing remained impossibly rhythmic as his legs blurred. Joints popped against the exertion; muscles, tendons, and ligaments continually tearing as he pushed the biomass construction beyond its normal range of handling. Blacklight tendrils swarmed around the location of constant disrepair and constantly sought to heal each weakness as it happened.

All he could hear, all he could smell, all he could feel surrounded Alex Mercer's body as he flung himself down the side of the building. He remained affixed to it by the clinging, healing fingers of his true self. The ground was still a good fifty feet below, and he wasn't ready to come down to Earth just yet. With a mighty lunge, he pushed off with his right leg. There was a momentary break that lasted no longer than half of a nanosecond.

That moment, weightless in the air, felt like slow motion, as he floated through the air, his right leg slowly coming forward to match up with his left just prior to his landing. As he landed, he rolled, breaking his fall expertly whether it was truly necessary or not. As soon as his feet were beneath him once more he was bounding off across the rooftop. His leather jacket flapped out behind him. He pushed this body, this cage, this form. He pushed himself, he pushed Blacklight beyond a speed it'd never known before. He'd never needed to be faster than his pursuers. However… this wasn't about being chased. This was about running merely for the sake of running.

Wind rushed passed his ears, drowning out any other sound the city might still hold. He clamped his teeth together, reaching the edge of a rooftop just before a large break in which many street lanes ran between. Zeus pushed off, gathering as much air as he could before he let gravity do its handiwork once more. He landed, this time, with a heavy thud and the cement cracked all around him into a shallow indentation.

As though on cue, memories that didn't below to him swarmed in on his peace. Just as easily as the cement had been battered beneath him, the placid, comfortable silence crushed beneath the onslaught of voices, thoughts, memories, worries, fears, deaths. Countless, indistinguishable, filled his mind. He stood, his sharp blue eyes cast to the ground.

-Song over-


	7. Across the Universe

A/N: Marian, Shane, and Layla are my own creations.

7. Across the Universe, by Jim Sturgess

"Am I really going to die?" The boy asked.

"Yes," said the hooded man who held him.

"Will it hurt?"

"I can make it easy." The man whispered.

The boy was so small already, but seemed horribly tiny and frail in his arms. Shane, little Shane, was the son of Marian and the brother of Layla. He didn't have a father. Shane was infected with Redlight. As soon as exhaustion overcame him, he would lose his sanity. He would deform and become something terrible. The only reason the hooded man, Alex, Zeus, Blacklight, knew the boy, was because of a series of circumstances that had brought Marian to Dr. Ragland. During the few times that Zeus had spent in quiet at Ragland's, he'd kept Shane and Layla company. He was awkward around them, inhuman in his eerily deadly and silent demeanor, but quiet enough. Their originality made up for his general strangeness.

Now, Shane was dying. He'd scraped his knee on an occasion when he shouldn't have been outdoors. The infection had gotten into his blood stream, and now he was dying. Alex had known right away. He was able to see infection like a red hot fever before it was ever able to run its course. He'd delivered the news frankly, to the horror of Ragland and the boy's mother. Shane had simply lowered his head, shuffled towards his awkward friend, and asked if he could have one chance to fly.

They'd pitched themselves off of the tallest building Zeus could find. They'd glided, and the boy yelled in pure abandon and glee, with a bit of fright and surprise mixed in. They'd traveled to an abandoned grocery store and Shane sampled all the junk food and candy he could ever possibly find in a single day. Which… surprisingly, was a lot. They sat now, in a corner of the store, with Shane nestled in Alex's lap as he sat cross legged. Shane had asked for a story. Alex had many; few belonged to him.

"I don't want to suffer." Shane whispered when silence had fallen around them, his voice hitching. For one so young, so tiny, so fragile, he appeared very strong to him then. To be honest, to be frank, to be so innocently blunt despite the fear.

"I won't let you." Alex withdrew a needle that Ragland had given him. 'Give him one hell of a last day, Alex. He showed you more kindness than any ever will. Now return it.' Ragland's words. The order, and the hidden warning, didn't really need to be spoken. He was glad for them nonetheless.

-Song over-


	8. Sharp Dressed Man

8. Sharp Dressed Man, by ZZ Top

((Oh… lawl.))

Eric tossed back a swig of liquor and eyed Alex from across the room. "That all you ever wear?" At the question directed at him, Alex looked down at his jacket sleeves as though he'd somehow forgotten what was covering him. Dana swiveled on her chair to face the two of them.

"Explaining this to you would be difficult, seeing as your drinking habit has destroyed much of your ability to think." Alex growled, dropping his wrist and settling into the back of the arm chair. Eric smirked and stood.

"Come on now. I think we should go shopping." Eric snatched Alex's wrist and stood, fully meaning to drag the virus with him. Zeus sat heavily in the seat, undeterred and unmoved. He looked up at Eric from beneath a furrowed brow that would kill if indeed expressions could.

"Oh, just go with him. I'm sick of you two being here anyway." Dana's voice came from a computer chair now turned back toward a glowing screen.

And so it was. Most stores had been abandoned, and one of the many shopping districts bore no more presence and movement than loose paper and litter fluttering about in the breeze. Eric bounded through a shattered window, tossing his empty bottle so haphazardly over his own shoulder that it nearly smacked Zeus in the center of his face. The virus instinctually dodged, watching the arc of the bottle pass him as it met its demise on the cement with a splattering crash. Looking back towards Eric, a guttural growl of irritation rose from his throat as he followed the soldier's path.

"Oh, here!" Eric exclaimed, brandishing a dashing black suit.

"Yeah, go for it." Alex said, crossing his arms.

"Go for what… you mean you want me to dress you?"

"No, I meant--"

"Like a Barbie doll?"

"Eric!" Alex raised his voice. "You blathering, drunken fool!" He exclaimed, snatching the suit from Eric's hands. Eric stared at him, his expression placid and empty for a moment, before he pushed Alex toward a dressing room with a renewed grin.

Alex stood in the room, perplexed, and stared into the mirror. A gaunt, pale, sickly face stared back at him. "I'm surrounded by idiots." He groaned. He withdrew the clothing, which had been created by his own viral cells, into him so that he stood nude before the mirror. He'd really never actually put on clothes before…

Zeus, the monstrosity, the terrorist, the Blacklight virus, slowly slid the door open. Eric was standing just outside. He 'AH HAH'ed as he saw Zeus and promptly dragged him from the room. "Damn I'm good." The soldier self congratulated. Zeus wasn't sure what for, but didn't question. He was too busy attempting to understand the bashfulness he was suddenly feeling. Humans and their behaviors; this was all very new territory for him.

"Walk." Eric stated with a clap on the other man's shoulder. Zeus raised one passing, inquisitive eyebrow before he did as ordered. "Oh yes, that was a very sexy expression my young grasshoppa."

"Grasshopper?" Zeus said as he turned around and began trekking back. "When can I stop walking?" He asked, his expression completely serious.

"Indeed, my work is cut out for me." Eric said as he mockingly dropped his face into his hand with an exaggerated sigh.

-Song over-


	9. The Funeral

9. The Funeral, from Pan's Labyrinth Soundtrack 

He'd arrived back at Ragland's safe 'house' that evening to find Marian sobbing. He'd never quite heard someone cry like that before. It was such a heart wrenching sound that Marian might have well been digging her fingers into his chest and grasping the fleshy muscle with every heavy wail. Dr. Ragland looked up at him when he entered the threshold of the converted waiting room. Dana looked up at him as well from where she sat behind a laptop. Ragland gave him a meaningful expression that Zeus didn't understand. It felt as though the doctor expected Alex to draw near. However, his instincts to flee won out against all the guesses he could have surmised, and with a heavy frown and downcast eyes, Alex drifted up the stairs.

Out on the balcony of the operating room, Alex sat in contemplation. The busy banter of other's memories babbled endlessly, but he'd grown accustomed to it. It was mere white noise most days now. What he did remember, what he _did _hear, was his own most recent memory.

Shane.

Zeus was always learning something new about life, himself, and what his place here should be. He didn't want to believe that he was a mere monstrosity that could only destroy and take life. It wasn't as though he were on a mission to become a saint, and he wasn't afraid to admit that he was selfish and uncaring about most everything. But…

He didn't want to prove them right. He was stubborn just as he was selfish. Not only that, but Shane had been…

Had been what? Whatever Shane had been, Alex had failed to protect him. In every way, that had felt like a necessity, and he'd failed.

-Song Over-


	10. Banana Pancakes

10. Banana Pancakes, by Jack Johnson

Across Manhattan, a doctor wondered just how much he could trust this… _thing._ This creature, it seemed, was the only plausible, sane solution. That was the truth, right? But in the same breath, he walked with all the stealth and predatory attributes that made it so easy to believe that he was wrong, evil, monstrous, and deadly.

Across the laboratory there was a small recreation area, that had once been a waiting room, with a couch and a tiny, glowing box that functioned as a television. The news blared, and behind the glowing screen sat the epitome of his currents thoughts.

Eric flared up a Bunsen burner and positioned a skillet over it. With a bit of flare and a cigarette between pointer and middle finger, he poured pancake mix onto the pan. The radio croaked out some music, and he moved a bit to the beat. Outside, it was pouring.

Dana was curled up on the couch under a thick throw, the only evidence of her being a fluff of wild, spiky hair sticking up from the figure wrapped up tightly. Alex sat beside her, quickly looking irritated with the news. He pressed mute, and suddenly the rain and radio seemed to blare. He looked over at his sister, reaching out to nudge her with the remote.

"It's noon. Get mobile." Alex's voice muttered gruffly. It was obvious he just felt like bossing _someone _around. The blanket squirmed and a groan emitted from it.

"Like a beautiful butterfly!" Eric exclaimed as he flipped the pancake. His exclamation was directed at Dana, who was slowly unfolding from her blanket and into a full body stretch. Her mouth stretched as well into a large and unabashed yawn.

"AGH!" She yelled and spat in disgust when Alex had poked her tongue with his fore finger. Across the room, Ragland's tired face stretched into a genuine smile. He shook his head, looking back down at his pancake.

Zeus might have been a virus, a cell that had copied a dying man's genetics and taken his place. Blacklight might have been a deadly strain derived from another, engineered for so many purposes beyond man's control. It might have been many other things as well, but right now, he just seemed to be his own. Not Alex Mercer. Not a man. He was his own being. He was Zeus… Blacklight, the creature whom Dana willingly accepted to fill her brother's shoes. A creature who knew anger, sorrow, loss and pain. A creature who was slowly coming to know humor and comfort as well. A creature that seemed to understand loyalty. Ragland suddenly didn't fear for his own life in that moment. No… if Alex had wanted him or any of them dead, they'd already be dead.

-Song over-


	11. Ramblin' Man

Ramblin' Man, by Allman Brothers Band

"We're so… fucked." A slurred voice spoke from the floor where a soldier in a black uniform lay half crumpled against the wall. His gaze was unfocused. In his left hand was propped a bottle of vodka. "F-f-f-f…" The sound fluttered into a groan as the soldier lifted the bottle to his lips. A pair of cold blue eyes studied the drunken man from the other side of the room.

Zeus was crouched, his hands slung over his knees and his back hunched against the wall. The two were high in some abandoned apartments, taking pause during the lull in chaos and bloodshed. His studious gaze observed as the soldier lifted the bottle to his lips only to find that it was empty. He raised it to his eye, peering inside, only to have one lingering droplet fall into his unsuspecting visual sensory receptor. The black clad soldier let out a hiss and growl, dropping the bottle in an attempt to bring his hands to his face.

"If you rub your eye, it will make it worse." The voice was monotone, as though speaking with all the knowledge that it wouldn't be heard. Alex was indeed correct. The soldier rubbed furiously at his tightly clamped eye as he continued to hiss and moan. "Shiiiit, dude." He whimpered lightly, blinking his bleary eyes. "Tha' hurt." He stated.

"You're an idiot." Alex stated, to which the soldier didn't even respond. "Come on, Eric. I'm finished with watching you drown yourself in alcohol." Zeus stood, stepping toward Eric with all the intentions of dragging him out of the apartment complex. Having found his comrade in here hours ago, Alex had stuck around to oversee his safety. It seemed pointless to wait out the man's addiction to all the spirits laying around the floor.

"Noooo, don' come any closer. I'll… I'll shoot." Eric fumbled around for his pistol, seeing as his rifle had been lost long ago.

"It won't do you any good, let's go." He was about to reach for the man when he suddenly began to cry.

"You don' know what it's like, do you?" Eric sputtered. Alex froze. He was about to ask Eric what he meant as he hovered half bent over the man like a statue, but Eric saved him the trouble. "My team… my men… my friends… I'll prolly die here too." Eric grit his teeth, as though inwardly furious with himself for admitting, what seemed to him, petty fears.

"Fucking monsters… fucking pests… I'm so sick of it here." Eric whispered, no longer crying, but his voice hoarse.

Alex was quiet for some time, unsure of what to do. His eyebrows unfurrowed to reveal a genuinely surprised and concerned expression. One hand reached out to touch Eric's shoulder, not out of thought, but out of instinct. As soon as Eric felt the contact, though, he lashed out. His left arm flailed as his right arm followed with a punch that connected solidly with Alex's jaw. The virus' head snapped back and it seemed like he was loosing balance for a second in the crouch he had adopted near the soldier. Righting himself, he grabbed Eric by the shoulders the stabilize him.

"Get yourself together Eric. Quit acting like a shit!" His expression returned to its characteristic fierceness. Hurt simpered under the expression for having been concerned for the soldier's feeling for once, and for the result it brought him.

-Song over-


End file.
